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AMSTERDAM,
Feb 25 (Reuters) - ASML, the biggest supplier of lithography equipment used to make computer chips, said in its 2025 annual report published Wednesday it now sees the artificial intelligence boom as the main driver for demand for its products.
The report reflects a change in tone from 2024, when the company emphasized that the semiconductor industry is cyclical and AI might prove a disappointment.
* "At first, we believed that AI would drive demand fromonly a limited portion of our customer base. At the end of theyear, we saw that new and significant demand for AI was startingto fuel capacity build-up across our broad customer base – apowerful trend that we believe will continue in 2026 andbeyond," CEO Christophe Fouquet said in the 2025 report. * In the 2024 report, CFO Roger Dassen had described AI as"a growth driver" that was not benefiting all customers equally. * "We anticipate continued growth in the semiconductormarket driven by strong demand for AI logic and memory products,along with high pricing resulting from supply-demand imbalances.This is expected to drive demand for growth in the equipmentmarket," the company said in 2025. * Elsewhere in the 2025 report ASML noted thatexport-control regimes continued to evolve in 2025, with theDutch government adding new controls on metrology and inspectionequipment in January. * In the 2025 report ASML also noted that it plans to set upa sales and support operation in India.(Reporting by Toby Sterling, Editing by Louise Heavens)
